Gender
refers to the roles + characteristics society assigns to men and women, and highlights social inequalities between the two
Gender attribution
the interactional process of reading the many cues people present in order to decide whether someone is a woman, man, or some other gender
Gender identity
one’s internal sense of one’s gender
Sex
frequently used to refer to the anatomical or biological characteristics between categories of people
Sexual dimorphism
belief that there are two discrete, biological, and objectively real categories called male and female
Social construction of reality
describes the historical process by which our experiences of the world are put into categories and treated as real things
Thomas principle
the principle that what people believe to be real is real in its consequences
Gender binary
the belief in two and only two natural, discrete gender categories into which all individuals fit
- many believe it’s natural + universal
- one among many ways of organizing gender categories
- must be maintained + patrolled
Gender variant categories
systems that institutionalize social roles + identities that extend beyond a binary, allowing for the existence of more than two gender categories
Intersectionality
an approach to the study of gender that draws our attention to variations and contradictions in the way people in different social categories experience gender
Biological explanations of gender:
can be empirically and objectively observed and must, therefore, be real
Biosocial approach
an approach to the relationship between gender and sex category that views only gender as socially constructed
Gender assignment
the gender category assigned, usually at birth and usually by a doctor
Biosocialists believe in/that:
- sexual dimorphism
- there are two kinds of people: females and males
- most of what we experience regarding gender is socially constructed
Cultural genitalia
the outward performance of gender that is assumed to match up with biological genitalia
Strong social constructionist approach
an approach to the relationship between gender and sex category that views both as socially constructed
Transgender
umbrella term for individuals whose biological gender or sex category doesn’t match with some other aspect of their gender expression
Transgender includes
- a wide variety of people who seek to change, cross, or go beyond culturally defined gender categories
- many ways to express gender not all of which line up with the binary
Matrix of domination
in intersectional theory, the way in which the social structures of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation work with + through each other so that any individual experiences each of these categories differently, depending on their unique social location
